1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to clamp for fixing an intermediate portion of the stem of a climbing plant such as a cucumber, tomato or melon plant to a suspended support wire and particularly to such a clamp that enables the stem to be fixed by a one-touch action.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The stems of cucumber, tomato, melon and other such plants climb to a considerable height and often become incapable of supporting their own weight, particularly under the added weight of their fruit. For preventing the stems of such plants from bending over it has been the practice to suspend a support wire vertically along the stem and to fix intermediate portions of the stem to the support wire by tying with string or binding with adhesive tape.
As the upper portion of the stem continues to climb, it becomes necessary to carry out the attachment work at regular intervals. The stem grows not only in length but also in diameter so that the string or tape used for attaching the stem to the wire eventually begins to bite into the stem. This constricts the tracheae inside the stem and slows the growth of the plant and the development of its fruit. It is also a cause of stress which leads to deformed fruit. Therefore, it has from time to time been necessary to replace all old pieces of tape or string with new ones of a length proper for the greater stem thickness. The work of fixing the stem to the support wire has thus been very troublesome.
An object of this invention is to provide a clamp which enables fixing of a plant stem to a support wire with a simple, one-touch action and which, moreover, does not require frequent adjustment or reattachment owing to increasing thickness of the stem with plant growth.